


Batman and Bubbles

by Xyriath



Category: Batman (Comics), DCU, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Gen, cavity inducing fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-06
Updated: 2013-09-06
Packaged: 2017-12-25 18:43:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/956436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xyriath/pseuds/Xyriath
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bruce fixes up a tiny Jason after he falls in the Batcave.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Batman and Bubbles

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cornflakepizza](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cornflakepizza/gifts).



> Commission for Cornflakepizza. Credit goes to her for the plot! Note that this is an AU where Bruce took Jason in around seven or eight.

The response to the cry of pain coming from behind him in the cave was instantaneous, and he rushed over to help.

Bruce knelt next to the young boy's knee, inspecting the damage. A quick glance up at Jason to assure that he was all right showed him that his eyes were full of unshed tears. Despite the tracks on his face and the trembling of his lips, however, he was doing his best to keep from crying.

Bruce smiled softly up at him before returning to his task.

The scrape wasn't bad enough to require stitches, but it would need more than a band-aid, and it would need to be cleaned.

Jason wasn't going to like that.

"It's going to be all right," he said quietly, standing. "Just going to get you fixed up, okay?"

Jay swallowed, and with the quick nod of his head, a single tear trickled down his cheek. Bruce reached down to wipe it away, then bent down to pick him up, careful of the scraped knee. With one arm behind Jason's back and the other under his knees, Bruce carried him up the stairs, out of the dimness of the cave and into the soft, warm light upstairs.

Jason had begun sniffling by the time Bruce set him down on the couch, and on his way to grab the first aid kit (turning down Alfred's offer to assist—Bruce wanted to do this himself), he picked up Jason's favorite toy. When he returned, he placed the plush of Dick in his blue and yellow Nightwing outfit in Jason's waiting hands. "Be brave, Jay," he said as he opened the kit, and Jason nodded, lower lip trembling again as Bruce pulled out the rubbing alcohol.

Bruce tried to be as gentle as he could while cleaning it, and Jason was very brave about it—if a few tears fell onto the plushie as Jason squeezed it tightly, Bruce pretended not to notice.

The alcohol was the worst of it, and Bruce could sense the tension ease out of Jason as he removed the final wipe and pulled out the gauze. Bruce looked up when he had out a properly-sized square, and Jason's dark blue eyes met his. They were red and puffy, yes, but the expression in them was pleading, uncertain.

"You're doing great, Jason." Bruce did his best to keep his voice steady and assuring. He caught the hints of a smile on Jay's lips, and when he directed one of his own in Jason's direction, it grew a bit bigger.

Jason winced again, slightly, as the gauze covered the scrape and Bruce's hands exerted the light pressure necessary to put the tape on. Finally, however, after painstaking time patching up Jason, it was finished. Not as neat as Alfred's would have been, of course, but Bruce had done it himself. Hesitating for a moment, he glanced back up at Jason. He couldn't explain the urge that hit him every few moments to be sure that Jason was all right, but he couldn't help himself either, couldn't stop the protective impulse to pick him up, hold him close, make everything stop hurting and be all right. And yet, he couldn't do that either, and it was an unfamiliar and unpleasant sensation. He was beginning to realize that while Jason might not have biologically been related to him, that this was a lot like what he imagined being a father must feel like. It was a bit different than it had been with Dick. Maybe because this was his second time going through this, so he actually sort of knew what he was doing. Some of it, too, probably had to do with Jason's age. He was young, so much younger than Dick had been, and Bruce wasn't even going to think about Jason as Robin for another few years at least. And Bruce intended to spend those, as he had the few months since taking him off the streets, making sure that Jay was happy and healthy and loved.

Jason's expression of wonder tugged Bruce out of his thoughts. With a clench of his gut, he realized that no one had ever likely done this for Jason before Bruce, that the boy was probably seeing this simple act of a decent human being as some sort of royal treatment.

It wasn't, but that didn’t stop Bruce from wanting to provide it.

Not allowing any of those thoughts to show on his face, he settled for smiling up at Jason again. As he began to pull backwards, however, a small hand clutching the fabric of his shirt stopped him.

"Can you… you didn't…" Jason looked so embarrassed and a little ashamed to be asking, and it took Bruce a moment to realize exactly what he meant. When he did, however, he sighed, leaning forward to press his lips gently to the taped gauze. A grin split Jason's tearstained face. Bruce wasn't entirely sure why the notion of "kissing it better" seemed to enchant the boy so much, but if it brought him that much joy, it was hopeless for Bruce to try to resist it.

Finally standing, he gave Jason a once-over. Though the scrape was clean and patched up, whatever Jason had been up to that had caused it had made him filthy. Dirt covered his hands and shins, even a smudge across his nose. With a raised eyebrow, Bruce looked down at him.

"You know you need a bath, too."

Jason's head snapped up, ready to protest, but the expression on Bruce's face made it clear that he would permit no argument. His shoulders sagged in defeat for a few moments before he looked up again.

"Can I at least take it in your bathroom, B?"

Bruce paused and leaned back slightly, pretending to consider, but really, there had never even been a question of agreeing to it.

"I suppose."

Jason gave a triumphant whoop and tried to slide off the couch, only to be stopped by Bruce's arms, scooping him up again.

Bruce was quick about it, running the bath with something of an excess of bubbles, though he didn't think Jason would mind. After a few moments of consideration, he went over to the sink and pulled out several of the expensive products companies were always sending him out from underneath it. He might not have a huge use for them, but if a shampoo cost a hundred dollars, it probably made your hair feel wonderful.

When Jason saw the amount of bubbles in the bathtub, his eyes widened and his mouth fell open. Bruce wouldn't suppress a smile at the sight, and had to hold him to keep him from jumping into the giant bubble-filled tub.

"Watch your knee," he reminded Jason, before letting him go. Jay nodded solemnly and stepped carefully into the bath, propping the leg with the cut knee up on the side, being careful not to get the gauze wet. Bruce could hear the happy sigh as Jason sunk into the warm water, then dunked his head back into it. He popped up with a grin, eyes squeezed tightly, black hair plastered to his head—which he promptly shook, plastering Bruce with bubbles. Bruce jerked back, but at the sound of Jason's giggle, he couldn't bring himself to be angry and he returned Jason's grin with a reluctant smile of his own.

Taking one of Jason's shoulders, he lathered a washcloth with expensive soap and began to scrub.

Jason wrinkled his nose with disdain at first, but quickly distracted himself with piling bubbles on top of his head. At one point, with Bruce's help, he even decided to construct a beard with the bubbles, triumphantly declaring himself Santa Claus.

The fact that Jason still believed in Santa Claus, even after everything he had gone through, made Bruce's heart ache.

When Bruce was finished everywhere else, he had Jason turn to put his back to Bruce and worked the shampoo into his hair.

"That smells really good, B," sighed Jason, and Bruce made a note of the brand, so he could keep buying it for him.

It wasn't long before Jason was nearly boneless, leaning back into Bruce's hands, eyes drifting shut. He made a small noise of protest when Bruce finally rinsed, dunking his head slowly underwater. When he lifted Jason, however, Bruce saw that Alfred had entered with a towel fresh from the dryer. Jason's complaining about being out of the warm water stopped instantly when Bruce wrapped him up in it, carrying him to Jason's room.

Jason stayed huddled on the bed until Bruce pulled out his pajamas (Bruce had been hesitant to buy the clothes patterned with little cartooned Batmen, but Jason had insisted). Even then, he was reluctant to relinquish the warm towel and get dressed.

Bruce made up for it, however, by suggesting that they get a before bedtime snack. Jason had dashed down the stairs nearly before Bruce had finished getting the words out. Bruce just shook his head and followed with a laugh.

Unfortunately, he soon learned that making warm milk was harder than Alfred always made it look. Several scorchings and a half-gallon of milk later, however, he replaced what was remaining back in the refrigerator with a sigh of relief. Not, however, before he caught Jason's longing stare at the syrups inside the refrigerator's door. He paused, then pulled them out, setting them on the counter in front of Jason.

"Just this once. Which do you want?"

Jason's face split into a grin as he launched himself at Bruce, hugging him. Scampering back over to the counter and climbing back up into the chair, he studied the two syrup bottles very carefully.

"This one," he said finally, pointing at the strawberry. "No—wait. The chocolate. Hang on. Strawberry." Jason bit his lip as Bruce held his hand over the strawberry syrup, not ready to pick it up until Jason made up his mind. "Actually…" He glanced hopefully up at Bruce. "Maybe… both? Please?"

The flavor combination sounded odd to Bruce. "Are you sure?"

Jason nodded eagerly, and Bruce stirred them both in obligingly. Jay took the cup and sipped at it, humming with contentment. "The only thing better than strawberry or chocolate is strawberry and chocolate."

Bruce just watched, a funny twisting feeling in his chest. Jason was almost unbearably adorable, cheeks flushed from the warmth of the bath and the happiness of the hot chocolate, grin on his face, injured knee forgotten. so different from when Bruce had found him, months ago, shivering and hungry and miserable.

Bruce just wanted Jason happy.

After several relaxing minutes that ended with Jason using the spoon to scrape out the last of the syrup, Bruce set the mug in the sink and led Jason upstairs to bed.

It took Jason some time enough to sleep, and in the meantime, he managed to cajole a few stories of Bruce's adventures out of him before he slept. Bruce took a quick trip downstairs to retrieve Jason's Nightwing plushie. He tucked it into his arms, and the boy squeezed it tightly as he snuggled down into the soft mounds of blankets.

Bruce tucked him in as he began to talk, telling Jason about a time he outwitted Two-Face during a robbery, then a particularly humorous incident with Victor Fries. Halfway through a story involving a group of cat burglars that couldn't manage to stay out of trouble, Bruce could see that Jason's eyes had begun to droop.

"It's time for bed, Jason."

"What?!" The protest was as sleepy as it was indignant. "But I wanna know what happened after they got themselves trapped on the houseboat."

"Tomorrow." Bruce could tell that Jason wouldn't be able to stay up to finish it, and it would provide a child appropriate bedtime story for tomorrow night as well.

Jason sighed, but he was too tired to protest.

"Mmkay," came the sleepy response, followed by a giggle as Bruce leaned forward to press a goodnight kiss to Jason's forehead. In a last show of energy, Jay leaned forward to press a quick kiss to Bruce's cheek as well, settling back with a blush.

"Good night, Jason." Bruce pulled back.

"Night, B." Jason's eyes closed for a moment before opening again. "Thanks for today."

"You're welcome," Bruce replied, flicking off the light. He hesitated in the doorway. He had so much that he wanted to say and so little idea of how to say it."

"I'm glad you're here, Jay."

The tired laugh coming from the direction of the bed was closer to sleep than waking. "I love you too, B."

Bruce left the door open a crack as he left with a smile.


End file.
